No matter what you think of his brand of comedy, I will personally always be a supporter of Seth Rogen and the only thing better than one of him is two. Brandon Trost's An American Pickle is an adorable family comedy that shows more than anything that these filmmakers know how to pull at your heartstrings. Rogen gives some of his most human and grounded performances to date, the chemistry between the two different generations of his character was phenomenal, and all of the technical pieces of this film were surprisingly impressive. While there might be a definite lull in this film's direction and trouble with adapting from its source material, there is still so much to love about this tale of tradition, religion, and family that kept me more than entertained. Side note: I used a free trial for HBO Max to see this film and after browsing their catalog, I became highly tempted to get a membership because if they keep putting out fantastic stuff like this, they will easily become a strong streaming competitor.
Herschel Greenbaum (Seth Rogen) is an immigrant worker at a pickle factory in Brooklyn who accidentally falls in a vat and is sealed into the briny vinegar. When it is finally opened a hundred years later, he finds out that his only living relative is a mild-mannered coder named Ben (Seth Rogen). The two form an immediate bond and set out to rediscover their roots. An American Pickle might have one of the most generic setups for a film I have seen recently but that is what brings it so much charm. Adapted from his own short story Sell Out, Simon Rich's script is just pure delight more than anything else. This film might not be anywhere near as goofy or raunchy as Rogen's more known roles but the message and themes of family, tradition, and religion were fantastic. This film's biggest emphasis is on the generational differences between Ben and Herschel and I adored how Rich personified these differences in quite the physical way. Rich writes an incredibly touching story of these two and how they learn to adapt to each others' quirks despite having varied views and I was taken aback by how emotional this film got me to be. One of the best parts of the writing, however, was how Rich portrays Ben as being understanding of the situation with his great-grandfather's reawakening. Instead of writing him as a dumb klutz or desperately trying to connect with Herschel through modern technology, Ben as a character is more sympathetic and smarter than that. This initial generational gap was addressed quick and thankfully, it helped to move the story along from the exposition as well. While Ben and Herschel's differences indeed pave the way for a sweet ending, they also bring a lot of the humor and while none of it was frankly laugh-out-loud, the comedy touches on a lot of modern issues and satirizes so much of today's culture in an amusing way. The dual performances from Seth Rogen were also a huge bonus to making this story absolutely wonderful and he does a fantastic job of really making the audience care about each one of his characters.
The script from Rich might be immensely funny and heartwarming but the execution of his story is what truly makes or breaks it and that is where I, unfortunately, found most of the problems with this story. The direction from Trost is very scattershot throughout this entire film and the story was never really quite sure what to do with itself. Ben and Herschel go from learning about each other's previous and present lives to becoming enemies to tackling political issues all in one. There was never really a defining principle on what this film was about past the first twenty minutes or so and its structure became far too loose. Because of this unfocused direction, I was also very unsure of how I was supposed to feel about the character of Herschel. Of course, since he is from such a different generation, much of the humor comes from how out-of-date his belief system is but that is never really resolved. Instead, it goes the political route and throws him in that scene before promptly taking him out without any real explanation. I was very conflicted about whether he was supposed to be the protagonist or antagonist and the ideas that this film explores within the scenarios that Herschel finds himself in just kept getting thrown around to no avail. As much trouble as Trost has with maintaining the pace of An American Pickle, the execution still manages to be wholeheartedly cute and this story is as quick as it is enjoyable. The technical parts of this movie are also what genuinely surprised me and I ended up really loving a lot of the creative choices that were made in this movie. The score by Nami Melumad and Michael Giacchino was extraordinary and it really made me feel warm inside about this cute little family tale. The editing by Lisa Zeno Churgin and the cinematography from John Guleserian work together to tell this visual story incredibly well too. I was surprised at how much talent was put into these cinematic aspects and the constant style adjustments were very entertaining. From the aspect ratio change to the quick cuts and transitions, this film changed how it was shot and edited depending on when the story took place and little details like that never cease to amaze me.
An American Pickle might take an already established premise and just twist it around a little bit for the sake of comedy but it is nevertheless wildly entertaining. I love the simple take on this story that Trost, Rich, and Rogen pursue and this film is honestly just what I needed right now. It never attempts to be anything groundbreaking and it never really needs to be, either. Sometimes all that an audience needs is Seth Rogen, a goofy premise, and predictable storytelling and I thank him and his producing partner Evan Goldberg for constantly churning out these lovable stories.
My Rating: ★★★
No comments:
Post a Comment